The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1887-03-10

ruSalem. And David dwelt in the fort,
and builded round about him. And Hi
ram, King Of Tyre, sent messages to Dav-
id with cedar trees, and carpenters, and
builded him house. So David became
great, and when the Philistines heard of
it they came to seek David. The Philis-
tines spread themselves in the valley of
Rephraim, and David went and smote
them, for the Lord had given him the Di-
vine assurance that the Philistines should
be delivered into his hands. The defeat
ed Philistines left their images which Da-
vid and his men destroyed.
But the Philistines came again, and Da-
vid asked of the Lord if he should go and
smite them again, but the Lord bade him
not to go up, but to encompass them from
the rear, cover against the mulberry trees,
and when he should hear the sound of a
gong in the mulberry trees, he was to go
out and attack, for the Lord would go out
before him and smite the Philistines.
David was commanded to bestir himself
when he heard the sound of commotion
among the mulberry trees. This was the
signal gun of Gods promise, the sign of
victory, the assurance of success. David
did as the Lord directed, and smote the
Philistines, and sent them in retreat.
Every human soul is placed by the Gre
ator in citadel of righteousness, and
surrounded by friendly influences. There
is provision made for the safety of that
soul There is thrown about it an array
of Divine forces sufficient to protect and
keep it at all times. Yet the enemies of
souls come and spread themselves before
the stronghold of the soul, and offer bat
tie. These forces are strong we'll drilled
and well skilled enemies, they who have
no higher aim than the annihilation of
souls. InStinctively the soul turns
against these forces and feels an impulse
| to give battle. And it is wise soul that
| at the time of attack, and for advice as to
whether the attack should be made, or
the battle be waged upon the defensive.
| The forces of evil come more frequently,
and fully as dangerously, now. On every
side the soul is compassed about by wick
ed, relentless foes, that seek to hasten the
| work of destruction. At such time, un-
| trusting soul hears the boughs of the
mulberries shaking, and realizes Gods
purpose for him to move against his enc
mics. And a move under such assurance,
and such faith, must be always success
full, because the Diyine power goes out
| before such life and smites with a force
| irresistible the enemies of the soul.
Do you ever hear, in your daily walk,
the willy overtures of the eeyil one, COM
| ing through your own conceits, or any of
| the small temptations that abound in the
world? Such being the case, it is high
| time that you were moving your forces
over against the mulberry trees of the Di-
vine promises, and listening for the voice
spoken through the branches thereof, bid
| ding you move resolutely against the enc
mics of souls. One of the great causes of
| sinners, and lack of growth on the part of
those who call themselves Christians, is
the slipshod way of going through this
! life. We cannot get the full benefit of a
religious service by sitting in the pew and
sleeping during the services at church.
| We crnnot grow in grace, by permitting
opportunities for doing good to go by un-
improved, and leaving things to drag
along as best they may. That Christian
who neglects the call of duty, is fully as
| guilty as that sinner who does not consid-
er that he has any Christian duty to per-
form. There are advantages opening up
before every life, that, if seized upon and
used, might lead to grand results, yet if
left unheeded, will sink away without
blessing the world ir any sense. What
good people need is to bestir themselves.
1t will not do to say that you have no in
| fiuence no power. For such a declara-
tion as that is simply Indicative that you
| are willing to sit by quietly and permit
| the enemy to capture and carry you Off
| We do not always know the methods
of the enemy, in his effort to spread him
self out before us. His approach may be
| so stealthy, his movements so quiet, that
| before we know it, and seemingly before
| we have the opportunity to bestir our
selves, there is a rapidly narrowing circle
of bonds about us, that renders escape
itself difficult, let alone the crushing of
the enemy. He may come in the shape
of bold insolent sinner, driving morali
ty and mortal hope before him, and chal
longing US to mortal combat; he may
come as the murderer, the assassin, at
tempting to rob US of life, even the work
of the thief in the night; he may come
marshaling his forces and making fierce
onslaught; or he may take the method of
slow and sure investment of our position,
planting series of deadly mines about
our Notifications. Men of experience in
modern warfare know something of the
deadly and cruel work of digging and ex-
ploding mines as a means of breaking
down barriers. Under such circumstan-
ces, the invested force should be bestir-
ring itself, but scarcely knows how or
when to begin.
So with the enemy of souls. He will
slowly and surely draw his lines about
his doomed victim. He sinks his mines,
and reaches out beneath the position and
prepares a sudden and violent death.
Here and there, even now, you may see
the surface indications of the deadly
mine. You may see the buoys that mark
the place of storage of the deadly mate
rials. You may see the barrels and kegs,
and bottles of horror that awaits the mo-
ment which shall mark a triumph over
your soul, and signals your destruction.
This force of the enemy draws closely
about the doomed soul, and at the last
moment awakens the soul to a solemn re-
Election over the fact that there may come
time in mortal experience when a
mighty power will destroy both soul and
body in hell" This mine of Intemper-
ance is the most deadly lead the enemy
of souls employs in his terrible work.
No position can be so secure, so impreg-
nable, but that this great enemy will Sc
cure it's destruction, unless the intrenched